The CrunchPad is going to be a bit more expensive than first advertised

It seems the CrunchPad from TechCrunch is still a go, but it isn’t going to deliver on at least one of its promises.

Since July 2008, Michael Arrington, CEO of TechCrunch, has been dreaming of a low cost tablet one could use for Web browsing comfortably from your couch. Since the earliest reports, Mr. Arrington has always said that the device should be $200 or less, but now that some new information has come out, it seems that target is going to be missed by anywhere from 50 to 100 percent … and, oh yeah, you’ll also be served up sponsored ads.

Mr. Arrington appeared on a new episode of the Gillmore Gang vidcast and said that the CrunchPad is “steamrolling” along, and prices for components continue to spiral downward.  The problem is that even with dropping prices, we are still hearing pricing in the range of $400, double what the original goal was.  Now we have the added twist that there will be some form of sponsorship(s) on the device to help bring pricing down for the consumer.  In short, this isn’t the device we were all originally promised.

Also, where is the delivery date?  With each passing day we are creeping closer to the seemingly inevitable Apple Tablet, which the brand name alone will bury any other competition in the marketplace.  Even if the CrunchPad some how miraculously appears before the Apple Tablet at this point, it is going to have to have a marketing blitz like no other to have any hope of controlling the market, or really even capturing a small portion of the market once the behemoth known as Apple is on the scene.

There is also the issue of the existing iPod Touch.  Many people have bought the device just for the Internet capabilities, and it can be purchased for well under the $400 the CrunchPad may run … and it doesn’t feature sponsorships.

It seems like the CrunchPad was a nice dream, but reality may put a damper on the project.

• TechCrunch forms new company to launch CrunchPad tablet computer
• The CrunchPad has officially been killed off
• Is the CrunchPad dead or just mortally wounded?
• (Tech)Crunch time approaches for the CrunchPad
• TechCrunch CrunchPad leaks early, looks good